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The
Beatitudes: The Good and Persecuted Life
Matthew 5:1-12: Seeing
the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples
came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Sermon Title: "The Good
and Persecuted Life"
Summary of Sermon: I
will be completing my series on 'The Beatitudes' this week.
As we have learned, the Beatitudes characterize how a Christian should
think and live. They are ultimately pictures of Jesus Christ our
Lord. As we come to know him by grace through faith, we begin to be
conformed to his image. His image and character are revealed in
the Beatitudes.
The eighth
beatitude, or characteristic of Christ and His people, is being those
who are persecuted, yet will be greatly rewarded!.
Introduction
Welcome to the new life of following Christ, yet going
against everything everyone else in the world believes! Welcome to
the new life of grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace with God, yet the new life
of becoming identified with Christ in suffering and in persecution for
righteousness sake. The Apostle Paul told Timothy:
"Yea, and all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
Everyone likes to be liked! Yet, when we take up
our cross to follow Jesus, we not only experience the blessings of Jesus,
but also the dislike and persecution that Jesus underwent. As Paul
says in various places in the Book of Philippians (Phil. 1:24ff; 3:7ff), we
are blessed to be identified with the sufferings of Christ. We are
not always liked because we stand for righteousness and truth!
It is not easy being persecuted and disliked by
others. Yet, it is one of the great incentives for us to continue to
gather together as a persecuted people who are blessed, or covenantally happy, because we know that we need each
other desperately (see Hebrews 10). We are united to Jesus Christ and
to each other and when persecution comes because we are standing for the truth, we want to stand firmly in Christ together!
Do you see yourself as part of a family in Christ?
Do you long to be with other believers who believe what you believe and are
being discipled by the truth of God's Word? Jesus said that in this
world we would experience tribulation (even though we are peacemakers as we
learned in the last sermon), yet he has overcome the world! (John 16:33).
As we continue to grow together in Christ as
a congregation, may we all be reminded of our great privilege of
suffering with the Risen and Ascended Jesus! May we be reminded that
we are not alone! When the whole world begins to make us think that
righteousness is boring, and even those within Christ's visible church says
we are "old fashioned" when we stand for righteousness and call a
sin, well "sin", let us be reminded that we are standing
together and we are not alone!
Our focus this Lord's Day will be on being persecuted
for righteousness sake and the hope that awaits us in our reward on the day
Jesus returns for his people. We will not always be
the persecuted people. We are now the heirs
of God in Christ (Gal. 3:26ff; Rom. 8:14ff), yet we await a great and
glorious day when we shall be vindicated before the whole world! We await the day when Jesus returns and renews all things
and we are rewarded with reigning with Jesus in a world absent of
unrighteousness, sin, and misery!
I.
Why Persecution?
What Kind of Blessing is That?
A.
Persecuted
because Your Spirit-filled and
Spirit-led lifestyle and character will be in direct conflict and
opposition to the lifestyle and character of the rest of the world!
1 Peter 4:1 Since therefore Christ
suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for
whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as
to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions
but for the will of God. 3 The time that is past suffices for
doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions,
drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With
respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same
flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give
account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead….
….12 Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though
something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar
as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad
when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name
of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests
upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief
or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
B.
Identified
with Christ, the Persecuted One (the Greatest blessing of all!)
The old saying: “I said
all that, to say all this!” As
you become all of these things that have been described in the beatitudes,
you will come directly and powerfully in conflict to the rest of the world!
Phil. 1:29 For it
has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only
believe in him but also suffer for his sake…
Colossians 1:24-29: Now I
rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is,
the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the
stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God
fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but
now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known
how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim,
warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present
everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with
all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
C. Living and thinking contrary
to the world’s way, which is to say, thinking
according to God’s way!
Awaiting Christ’s return in these Last Days.
A. Our
Time- The Last Days (Acts 2:17; Heb. 1:1-2; 1 John 2:18; cf. 1 Tim. 3:1-12)-
B. Our
Time Characterized by (contrast with being poor in spirit, mourners,
meek, hungry and thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart,
peacemakers, and persecuted and reviled for Jesus’ sake):
2 Timothy 3:1 But
understand this, that in the last days there will
come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self,
lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous,
without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous,
reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into
households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by
various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at
a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes
and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also
oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the
faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be
plain to all, as was that of those two men. 10 You, however,
have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my
patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and
sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium,
and at Lystra- which persecutions I endured; yet
from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to
live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…
These characteristics are opposite of the commandments
of God and the character revealed in the Beatitudes.
D.
It is
the display outwardly of our commitment to Christ.
Illustration: “For better
or worse, richer or poorer… ‘til death
do us part.”
II.
A Path
of Persecution because of
righteousness!
A. Standing
for Christ in the midst of a pagan and perverse generation
B. People
of the Truth, of Righteousness, of “another world” altogether.
C. In
reality, we are offering a message of Lordship that challenges and opposes their own self-centered lordship.
D. Narrow
way to life and the broad way to destruction
Jesus speaks of “two
ways”/”two paths” –You are on one or the
other. One is characterized by persecution, yet blessedness
in the midst of pain on this narrow path; one is characterized by ease and comfort, yet is
wide and leads to destruction!
The Psalms lay this out in
Psalm one. Notice how you are on one
of the paths:
Psalm 1:1 Blessed
is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the
way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his
delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and
night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields
its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does,
he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that
the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in
the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of
the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
III.
Theirs
is the kingdom of heaven (cf.
5:3)
A. Jesus began with this
blessing: “Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”
and ends on the same note of promise.
This is the only “present tense” reality of all the
blessings!
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